Information Polity - Volume 16, issue 3

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ISSN 1570-1255 (P)
ISSN 1875-8754 (E)

Information Polity is dedicated to publishing work from two main sources: academic and practitioner. The journal publishes work from academics that is both of top quality and, equally, of high strategic relevance to practitioners. Secondly, the journal is intent on publishing work undertaken by practitioners – professional, administrative and political – who are actively engaged in the broad arenas of government and democracy, whether at local, regional, national or supra-national levels.

Information Polity is dedicated to publishing work from two main sources: academic and practitioner. The journal publishes work from academics that is both of top quality and, equally, of high strategic relevance to practitioners. Secondly, the journal is intent on publishing work undertaken by practitioners – professional, administrative and political – who are actively engaged in the broad arenas of government and democracy, whether at local, regional, national or supra-national levels.

The journal is both international and comparative in its perspectives and welcomes articles from scholars and practitioners throughout the world. The journal is a tangible expression of the awareness that ICT, including the Internet, is of deepening significance for all polities as new forms of government and democratic practice are sought throughout the world. This journal establishes a role for itself in these contexts, seeking both to capture and stimulate debate.

The journal publishes articles on political, economic, legal, managerial, organizational and wider social themes and issues as they relate to policy developments surrounding information & communications technologies (ICT) in government and democracy. Examples of such themes and issues are:

The modernization of government and ICTConsumer responsive governmentJoined up government and ICTThe globalisation of government and ICTVirtual governmentData privacy, protection and securityDemocratic innovation and ICTThe citizen, the state and ICTChanging ICT-supported democratic practices in the contemporary polityPublic policies for ICT development and adoption

Publishing in Information PolityThe journal is keen to receive well-written journal articles from its targeted authors on topics as stated above. Articles submitted for consideration must be written in English. Academic articles submitted should normally not exceed 6000 words in length [including all footnotes]. Articles in the form of authoritative, well-researched case studies will be welcomed and will not normally exceed 4000 words. The journal will welcome polemical articles as well as those deriving from research and practice. The journal will also commission book reviews. All articles submitted to the journal will be refereed by at least 2 expert readers. Readers will normally complete reviews of submitted articles within 2 months of their receipt.

Information Polity is dedicated to publishing work from two main sources: academic and practitioner. The journal publishes work from academics that is both of top quality and, equally, of high strategic relevance to practitioners. Secondly, the journal is intent on publishing work undertaken by practitioners – professional, administrative and political – who are actively engaged in the broad arenas of government and democracy, whether at local, regional, national or supra-national levels.

The journal is both international and comparative in its perspectives and welcomes articles from scholars and practitioners throughout the world. The journal is a tangible expression of the awareness that ICT, including the Internet, is of deepening significance for all polities as new forms of government and democratic practice are sought throughout the world. This journal establishes a role for itself in these contexts, seeking both to capture and stimulate debate.

The journal publishes articles on political, economic, legal, managerial, organizational and wider social themes and issues as they relate to policy developments surrounding information & communications technologies (ICT) in government and democracy. Examples of such themes and issues are:

The modernization of government and ICTConsumer responsive governmentJoined up government and ICTThe globalisation of government and ICTVirtual governmentData privacy, protection and securityDemocratic innovation and ICTThe citizen, the state and ICTChanging ICT-supported democratic practices in the contemporary polityPublic policies for ICT development and adoption

Publishing in Information PolityThe journal is keen to receive well-written journal articles from its targeted authors on topics as stated above. Articles submitted for consideration must be written in English. Academic articles submitted should normally not exceed 6000 words in length [including all footnotes]. Articles in the form of authoritative, well-researched case studies will be welcomed and will not normally exceed 4000 words. The journal will welcome polemical articles as well as those deriving from research and practice. The journal will also commission book reviews. All articles submitted to the journal will be refereed by at least 2 expert readers. Readers will normally complete reviews of submitted articles within 2 months of their receipt.

The journal is both international and comparative in its perspectives and welcomes articles from scholars and practitioners throughout the world. The journal is a tangible expression of the awareness that ICT, including the Internet, is of deepening significance for all polities as new forms of government and democratic practice are sought throughout the world. This journal establishes a role for itself in these contexts, seeking both to capture and stimulate debate.

The journal is keen to receive well-written journal articles from its targeted authors on topics as stated above. Articles submitted for consideration must be written in English. Academic articles submitted should normally not exceed 6000 words in length [including all footnotes]. Articles in the form of authoritative, well-researched case studies will be welcomed and will not normally exceed 4000 words. The journal will welcome polemical articles as well as those deriving from research and practice. The journal will also commission book reviews. All articles submitted to the journal will be refereed by at least 2 expert readers. Readers will normally complete reviews of submitted articles within 2 months of their receipt.

Abstract: Cyber-optimists anticipate that electronic media will serve as an extensive public space, a virtual agora, that will re-engage the public with politics and the policies that affect everyday life. For three years we were involved in a U.S. National Science Foundation funded project designed to enhance the participation of citizens in government agency rulemaking processes using online public deliberation and Natural Language Processing technologies. Despite a promising approach in an important arena for direct and regular…public engagement, the project was met with serious obstacles in trying to secure a partnership with a government agency or interest groups. This led us to consider the policy process literature for insights regarding the obstacles we faced. That literature, a mainstay in the public policy and public administration curriculum in the U.S. and an attempt to capture how policy makers actually make decisions, heavily focuses on institutional actors and their adversarial relationships. Yet, it provides for hardly any role for the public to participate in what ideally should be a democratic process. Important components of the literature imply that institutional actors should discourage direct public engagement. The analysis seeks to clarify leverage points and contexts that could be used to promote online public engagement as a regular component of government processes.
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Abstract: Purpose: This study examines why and how U.S. government agencies and official sadopt Twitter to expand organizational boundaries and extend communication reach. Design/methodology approach: The author uses a mixed methods strategy to explain the adoption of Twitter in government. First, Diffusion of Innovations theory provides a foundation to explain the variables that impact adoption. Then a literature review, an examination of secondary survey data of U. S. governments' use of and attitudes toward Twitter, and a website analysis of Twitter initiatives are used to describe the uptake of Twitter by government and citizens. Findings: Increased use of…Twitter by citizens, private sector and nonprofit or ganizations and an emphasis on providing transparent, participatory, and collaborative government are primary reasons for Twitter adoption. Federal and local governments are adopting Twitter faster than states. Uses vary by government level, but the main use is for extending communication reach. Effective use, as demonstrated by key initiatives, is related to two-way communication and incorporating it within daily workflow. Security, controlling content and developing policies are main challenges for adoption. Practical implications: By examining the deployment of Twitter in government, this study provides a guide for agencies and government officials to explore adopting this new information and communication technology. Originality/value: This paper focuses on the use of Twitter to expand public sector organizational boundaries by extending the communication reach to engage citizens.
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Abstract: The Obama Administration has outlined a set of principles and practices to support Open Government in which citizens can collaborate with the government to solve problems. The Administration is using technology, especially web-based technology, to support Open Government in practice. Many of the government's websites include video. We examine the website built to support the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST). We critique it and argue that a number of important design decisions…made for the current site should be changed to better support Open Government. Key to our argument is what has come to be known as Open Video, an application of the ideals of Open Source Software to video. Our critique is followed by a discussion of a prototype system we have built to demonstrate an alternative to the current PCAST site. Our prototype is called Peer-to-PCAST to call attention to the similarities between our proposals and Peer-to-Patent, the first Open Government system built for a different context, the US Patent and Trademark Office [34].
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Abstract: The Whole of Government (WG) approach is increasingly seen as an imperative for delivering coherent and integrated policies, joined up and seamless services, and integrated program management in government. Although no generic WG framework currently exists, there are reported cases of WG initiatives by different governments. Grounded in existing theories, frameworks and cases related to inter-organizational collaboration, collaborative Electronic Government (EGOV) and joined-up government, this article describes how to build a collaborative…IT Strategy Management (ITSM) environment based on the WG approach. The article first develops a WG model to identify the enabling elements for the WG approach. Next, it identifies the necessary conditions for creating a collaborative ITSM environment in government, applies the WG model to synthesize a set of generic requirements for implementing the WG approach, and presents a WG ITSM toolset to support the implementation. Finally, the generic WG-ITSM requirements are used to analyze a case study involving the WG-ITSM development in a city government. Based on the case study, the validity of the WG model and generic WG-ITSM requirements as well as the usefulness of the toolset are discussed. The article closes with the recommendations for the WG-ITSM practice and for further development of the WG framework.
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Abstract: Information about public safety has become critical for government organizations, non-government organizations and citizens in general. It enables informed decisions to be made by individuals, as well as guides the creation of public policies. As with many domains, information on public safety is usually spread across different organizations, described in different formats and published at different levels of granularity and richness. In this paper, we present work done on a web-based portal that aggregates and displays…public safety information for the city of Troy, New York. This portal shows how the use of semantic technologies facilitates the integration of multiple data sources with disparate characteristics. The portal demonstrates two types of functionality: First, it shows different examples of integration of public safety information through a variety of examples and visualizations. Second, it acts as a source of semantified data that third-party developers can use in their own applications.
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Abstract: Many municipal and community owned electrical distribution systems are under pressure to demonstrate progress towards attaining energy efficiency and sustainability goals. Fueled by general public interest, and a strong environmental and vendor lobby the "Smart Grid" has become a rallying point for attaining triple bottom line goals for utility departments. While larger distribution systems have the means to pursue more visible initiatives, smaller and mid-tier municipalities are challenged with the reality that conservation…and sustainability is expensive, and may in fact be beyond their means. This paper presents the experiences of several small to mid-tier municipal or community owned electrical systems in realizing their conservation and sustainability goals through the implementation of a smart grid.
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